Audience Collective aim high, Mercia raise £80m, Wood Group are off...
Our weekly free round up of key deals and major moves in the Rainmakers world
Hello Rainmakers,
A successful fund raise always lifts the spirits. It brings competition into the market and makes deals more likely. All that dry powder has to be deployed somewhere, right? Right?
A few deals to ponder this week, including the departure of Wood Group from the stock market and another purchase by a fast growing marketing group from Leeds.
This is free to all who have signed up, however Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, and also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless, and River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and LDC.
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An independent marketing services group established in Leeds in 2020 has already grown to achieve a turnover of £28m across six specialist agencies and is showing no signs of slowing down. Audience Collective confirmed this week that it has acquired Huddersfield-based ecosystem and partner marketing specialist, Coterie Marketing. The enlarged group is now forecasting annual revenues of £40m within the next three years.
Coterie Marketing joins a portfolio which includes Leeds-based brand and communications agency, Ponderosa, as well as market research agency Spark and talent acquisition agency, Crunch. Rob Westcott, Audience Collective group CEO, said: “The acquisition materially strengthens our technology capabilities and deepens our expertise in partner and ecosystem marketing. We have ambitious plans for further growth, both organically and through targeted acquisitions, and Yorkshire will remain central to that story.”
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Regionally focused asset manager Mercia has raised £80 million of new capital, through share offers for its Northern venture capital trusts.
At a time when fund managers are keen to emphasise that they can deliver healthy returns for investors, whether they be sophisticated investors into VCT’s or pension funds who have to protect the savings of scheme members, the raise has put a real spring in Mercia’s step.
Mark Payton, Chief Executive Officer of Mercia, described it as a record fundraise in a challenging environment. “The successful £80.0million fund raise is another example of how Mercia is scaling its broad range of investment capabilities across venture, development capital and property finance. It also underscores the trust that Mercia has built in managing the Northern VCTs, which remain a vital source of investment for SMEs throughout the UK, whilst they navigate the current economic climate.”
The Northern VCTs comprise Northern Venture Trust PLC, Northern 2 VCT PLC and Northern 3 VCT PLC.
Dean Heaney, Head of Institutional Sales and Distribution at Mercia will be speaking at theBusinessDesk.com’s Rainmakers Summit on the 25th of March in Manchester on the opportunity for pension funds to invest in venture funds.
The Mansion House Compact will supposedly reshape UK regional investment and unlock underinvested pension assets.
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Following on from a recent Rainmakers feature about the paucity of Scottish company IPOs, a couple of stories this week continued the theme.
Aberdeen-headquartered engineering consultancy Wood Group has finally delisted from the London Stock Exchange, following its £216m acquisition by Dubai-based rival Sidara - whose chief executive called it “the most ambitious venture” in its history.
Another listed energy group, Edinburgh-based Capricorn Energy, has also now attracted interest from the Middle East. An update on Thursday confirmed that it has received “multiple unsolicited proposals from Alamadiyaf al-Masiyyah” - a member of the Saudi investment group Cafani. A firm offer must now be made by 8 April, with Capricorn’s board now “seeking clarity” around the potential funding arrangements.
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Fairstone has found a little Prosperity in the West Midlands after snapping up Prosperity Wealth in its biggest deal yet.
The Brierley Hill firm brings £1.5bn in assets, 80 staff and more than 5,000 clients into the fold - proving this takeover really does live up to its name.
The deal follows a two-year partnership under Fairstone’s Downstream Buy Out programme, suggesting the relationship has gone from financial planning… to financial wedding bells.
Prosperity’s office will now become Fairstone’s West Midlands hub, giving the wealth manager an even bigger foothold in one of the UK’s most business-hungry regions.
Matt Bell, head of office at Prosperity Wealth said: “We’re really excited to become part of the Fairstone group. We wanted to join Fairstone because it offers us the opportunity to create a real step-change in growth while remaining a trusted source of independent financial advice – in many respects, it’s the best of both worlds.”
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Dutch clean-air specialist Formula Air Group has blown into the UK market after snapping up Dust Spares - showing it’s serious about cleaning up the competition.
The Leicestershire firm supplies dust extraction parts to installers, contractors and OEMs, giving Formula Air a ready-made customer base and a stronger grip on the European extraction market.
Dust Spares will keep operating from its base in Kibworth, with plans to expand the site as the business looks to vacuum up more demand.
The deal was advised by the corporate team at Rothera Bray, led by senior partner Tim Gladdle alongside Arron Halait and Rachel Mills.
Gladdle said: “We are delighted to have supported Formula Air Group on this strategically important acquisition. Dust Spares is a well-established and respected UK supplier of extraction products, and joining the Formula Air Group will provide a strong platform for continued growth. We look forward to seeing the business thrive as part of its new international group.”
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A reminder about the Rainmakers Summit, a chance to air the important issues. To help to get people in this critically important economic community around the same table as civic leaders, and to understand key issues around value creation, business leadership and strategy.
This year’s event has really top class contributors from beginning to end. I’m really looking forward to being part of it, and very proud of the team that will be delivering it on the day.
Keep reading to find just a few of the highlights of the 2026 event.
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One of the greatest tricks pulled by the investment sector is to have lobbied towards the Mansion House compact, which could open up pension funds to invest in regional venture funds.
Sarah Adams is Director of Policy at UK Private Capital (formerly BVCA), who has played a big part in that and she’ll be explaining how her policy team have achieved such a good result for sector.
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Duncan Johnson, founder and chief executive of Northern Gritstone will be speaking.
The investment veteran, who started out in turnaround, has shaped Northern Gritstone to be a chunky life sciences and deeptech investment firm that’s now raised £362 million. The fund has close relationships with the research universities in the North, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and Liverpool.
As we said in an interview with TheBusinessDesk.com last year, the chief executive of Northern Gritstone looks and sounds like a man having the time of his life. He completed a fresh £50 million raise from leading institutional investors including £35m from LGPS, the collective asset pool for Greater Manchester, Merseyside and West Yorkshire Pension Funds, alongside £15 million from new investors Fulcrum Asset Management and Aviva.
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The Beauty Tech Group has smashed its targets for the current financial year, reporting surging revenues for the year ended 31 December 2025 following its IPO in October 2025.
CEO Laurence Newman will be speaking at Rainmakers Summit this March, where he will tell the extraordinary, behind-the-scenes story of the company’s IPO and rapid post-listing growth.
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The Rainmakers Summit on the 25th of March will feature a debate on the future of professional services as partners consider their next strategic options.
Featuring leaders of businesses who have chosen very different paths, and an investor in one of the consolidators driving the change across the sector, the debate will throw an intense focus on the stark choices that professional services firms face.
Making the case for independence will be Helen Clayton, managing partner at accountancy firm PM&M.
Telling the story about their respective lives on the public markets will be Rakesh Shaunak, CEO of MHA, and James Sheridan, head of M&A at Knights PLC.
Explaining the investment decision behind aggregation will be Matt Nicholson, investment lead at Tenzing, the private equity backer of accountancy consolidator DJH.
As a thank you for being part of our Rainmakers community, we are pleased to offer an exclusive 20% discount for the upcoming Rainmakers Summit on March 25th.
This is a unique opportunity to engage with industry leaders, gain insights, and connect with like-minded professionals.
As you can see the agenda features keynote speakers and exclusive sessions hearing from The Beauty Tech Group, Northern Gritstone, Rem3dy Health & GM Pension Fund. With some more details below…
Event details & registration:
https://www.rainmakerssummit.co.uk/
Discount code: RAINMAKER20
Please note that this offer is available for a limited time. We encourage you to secure your place at your earliest convenience.
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